fate's favorite
by envysparkler
Summary: "I'll make sure your destiny ends, right then and there. Permanently." – Zuko, Katara, Western-Air-Temple!AU.
1. Chapter 1

**a/n:** Because we all know Zuko's luck. Also, I've officially spent five years on fanfiction! This year, my oneshot anniversary celebration covers the first five fandoms I wrote for.

 **disclaimer:** I don't own A:tLA.

 **summary:** "I'll make sure your destiny ends, right then and there. _Permanently._ " – Zuko, Western-Air-Temple!AU.

* * *

 _ **lucky to be born**_

* * *

Zuko couldn't quite shake the itch of Katara's glare all throughout the morning. The breakfast she'd grudgingly handed out in the morning was all burnt on one side and she'd 'accidentally' spilled tea on him while tripping over flat ground. Now she was holed up in some corner and eyeing Aang's training like a hawk.

Her threat still echoed in his head. The food and the tea he could deal with – Azula was his little sister, after all, and she'd had a phase where she dumped bugs in his food. Some of them poisonous.

Perhaps it hadn't been just a phase.

And Zuko always smelled of tea after spending three years with his uncle. The scent was soothing and Zuko didn't have to think of the brave, wise, kind man that he'd left locked up in a prison cell. He didn't even know where Uncle Iroh was now, or even if he was still alive.

But Katara's stare was making him twitchy. Azula used to do that – stare at him until he messed up and embarrassed his father. And while Ozai wasn't here, Aang was and Zuko was already losing his temper.

"I don't know why I keep making smoke," Aang sulked. Sokka laughed from his perch on a nearby bench, eating fire flakes and watching their practice like it was a rumble tournament. " _Your_ flame still isn't much bigger."

"I'm not the Avatar," Zuko said through clenched teeth, "And I'll deal with my power issues. I'm trying to teach _you_."

All the people staring at him were making him uncomfortable and his weak firebending wasn't helping. Add in an annoying brat, and Zuko was ready to rip out his hair.

"Monk Gyatso said that you should practice what you preach," Aang said solemnly, "Or you will never learn."

Zuko resisted the urge to tell the boy where exactly his Monk Gyatso could stuff it, and also resisted the urge to throttle him.

"Well, Monk Gyatso isn't here," Zuko said, as patiently as he could.

"Yeah," Aang's eyes narrowed, "Because the firebenders killed him."

Zuko was shaping up to be the worst teacher ever. He couldn't produce a decent fire, he was getting rattled by a bunch of teenagers, and he'd inadvertently brought up Sozin's massacre of the Air Nomads to the last living airbender.

 _Way to go, Zuzu_ , a voice that sounded suspiciously like Azula echoed in his head.

"How about we try something else?" Zuko offered. Aang was a monk, right? So maybe the meditation sequences would be a better starting point. "Do you have a candle anywhere?"

"I'll get it," Sokka said cheerfully, wandering off and returning with a short, stubby candle. It wouldn't have been Zuko's first choice, but it would have to do.

"Here, sit in a cross-legged stance," Zuko instructed, pinching the wick to light it up and placing it in front of Aang, "Close your eyes. Listen to the fire. Breathe in and breathe out, slowly but deeply. Firebending always comes from the breath."

Aang did as he instructed…for a minute. Then he cracked open one eye, "How long do I have to do this for?"

Zuko, who was trying to figure out why his katas weren't working, growled, "As long as I say so." Aang fell silent again and Zuko tried not to be put off by the smirk on Sokka's face. Thankfully, Katara wasn't close enough to hear them.

"And how long is that, Sifu Hotman?" Aang piped up again.

Zuko lost the slim handle he had on his temper. " _Until I tell you to stop_!" he yelled, turning on Aang. His anger seized the first outlet it found, which was the steadily burning candle and it flared up a foot high before dying back down.

Aang stared at him with wide eyes as Zuko tried to wrestle his temper back under control. Aang had backed up a few feet and was clutching his right hand to his chest. Zuko sighed at the fear in the younger boy's eyes. "I'm sorry," he said slowly, aware that fire flakes were falling from Sokka's gaping mouth, "I shouldn't have yelled."

"Oh, you're _sorry_ ," Katara said snidely, deliberately elbowing him as she pushed past him and made for Aang, "This is why I didn't want you to teach him! You have no control!"

Zuko took another breath and tried very hard not to lose his temper again. He'd faced Azula and her taunts and this water peasant was nothing compared to his little sister.

"What happened, Aang?" Katara asked in a soothing tone, dropping next to the Avatar. Zuko rolled his eyes and turned to face the open cliff. Katara's mothering wasn't going to get them anywhere. Fire was power, it didn't respect you unless you tamed it. Aang had to learn that.

And Zuko had to figure out what was wrong with his firebending. He couldn't fight like this, he couldn't face his father like this, and he certainly couldn't teach the Avatar firebending like this.

There was a sudden chill in the air and Zuko spun around instinctively. The fire that should've come to his fingertips was, instead, a wisp of smoke and Zuko cursed as he looked for the threat. Sokka was glaring at him, Katara was still bent over Aang, the candle wick still glowed dimly –

"You burned him," Katara said, her voice low and furious. For a moment, Zuko was confused – there was no angry red scar over Aang's face, no permanent reminder of his weakness, no punishment for his failure. Then he saw Katara's water-wrapped hands moving over a small burn on Aang's hand and he understood.

He must've accidentally burned him when the candle had flared. Zuko felt a little guilty, but it was firebending practice and Katara had been right there. No lasting harm. Zuko resisted the urge to bring his hand to the left side of his face.

"It's firebending training," he said instead, "Burns happen." He was acutely aware that it was the wrong thing to say as the temperature dropped even lower.

"I can _see_ that," Katara hissed as she got up, her gaze fixed on his face. Zuko took a step back at the venom in her voice and even Sokka looked shocked.

Aang unsteadily got to his feet behind her. "Katara, I'm fine," he tried to smile, "See?" He waved his hand in emphasis but Katara didn't turn.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to betray us," Katara glared at him and took a step forward, "I was prepared to wait and wait and _wait_." Zuko didn't like the tone of her face. "I shouldn't have worried though," Katara slipped into a waterbending stance and without realizing, Zuko slipped into a stance of his own, "We all know that you have no patience!"

With that, she attacked, sending a wave of water towards him. The fountain behind her emptied itself, lending her a massive pool of water for attacks. Zuko tried to summon fire, but it wasn't strong enough to counter her water wave and the attack hit him, sending him flying backwards.

Zuko gulped and marked the cliff's edge, a few feet from his position. He got up and quickly ducked behind a pillar as she sent another slicing wave. "I'm not trying to betray you," Zuko called out, poking his head out from behind the pillar and hastily withdrawing it before he got a face-full of ice spikes.

"All that crap about your weak firebending?" Katara said incredulously, "You're just trying to trick us! Your firebending was strong enough to burn Aang!"

It had been a candle wick. Zuko had a habit of flaring candles. Power had nothing to do with it. Before he could voice it out loud, Katara spoke up again. "Come out and face me, _Zuko_!" she yelled, "And let's see how strong your firebending really is!"

Katara had gone crazy. There was no other option. And it looked like no one was going to stop her. The last time Zuko and Katara had fought, they had been more or less evenly matched. Unfortunately, Zuko's firebending was now as strong as a six-year-old's and Katara was spitting mad.

Katara had apparently realized he was never going to leave the pillar, because two giant waves of water crested on either side of it, ready to crash down on Zuko.

Zuko cursed again, and rolled underneath the wave before popping back up and sprinting for the next column. When he was halfway there, he snuck a glance at Katara and promptly ducked – the ice spikes headed for his eyes clattered harmlessly behind him.

"Katara," Aang spoke up, "I think it was just an accident –"

"Stay out of this, Aang," Katara growled and Zuko could hear her footsteps crossing the marble courtyard. He needed to find a better hiding spot, somewhere where a misstep wasn't going to launch him off the edge of a cliff.

He made a break for it, coming out from the right side of the pillar. She was waiting for him with a water whip. He dodged it but slipped on the ice now coating the entire courtyard and fell hard on his shoulder.

Another bruise to add to his collection. The one from the earth spike that had jammed into his abdomen still throbbed as did the ones from his painfully one-sided fight with the Fire Nation assassin.

Despite the pain shooting through his shoulder, Zuko got up again and slid into a dive that brought him behind one of the stone benches. He took a second to slow down his breathing and gingerly massage his shoulder. The pain was mangeable, which meant nothing was broken or dislocated. Zuko looked over his cover and didn't even bother wasting the breath to swear. He merely jumped over the stone bench, a moment before the water crashed down on his hiding spot.

"I'm sorry, Katara," Zuko tried again, "It was an accident."

"You expect me to believe that the great Fire Nation Prince does _anything_ by accident?" Katara shrieked, and the water behind him rose up. Zuko didn't bother waiting for the trick, but slid out of the way again, coming to a halt on Katara's right.

She spun to face him but Zuko took a moment to respond, "I'm not the Fire Nation Prince anymore!"

"Don't expect me to believe that Daddy Fire Lord disowned you," Katara snarled.

"You know _nothing_ about my family!" Zuko yelled back. His father hadn't just disowned him, he'd tried to _murder_ him. Azula had tried to kill him so many times that he'd lost count. Even his grandfather had wanted him dead.

But Katara didn't care, she wouldn't listen to him, and Zuko had spent precious seconds yelling at her without looking for her next attack. He snarled and spun around, just in time to get hit with blast of half-ice, half-water. He could've shrugged the attack off as just another bruise, but it had impacted him in the same place as Toph's earth spike last night and the pain was enough to halt Zuko for a moment.

It was an advantage that Katara took. Water drew up again into a massive wave but it was one that Zuko couldn't avoid. The last thing he saw was Katara's satisfied smile before his head slammed against a pillar and everything went black.

* * *

" _Katara_ ," Aang cut in again, moving to stand between her and Zuko, "I told you, it was an accident! You don't say anything when Toph keeps hitting me with rocks, so why is Zuko so different?"

"Toph didn't chase us across the world," Katara hissed, glaring at the mess of spiky black hair she could barely see over Aang's shoulder, " _Toph_ didn't send a Fire Nation assassin after us!"

"Zuko tried to stop him," Aang argued, "You saw that! He nearly died!"

"How do we know it wasn't just a set-up?" Katara crossed her arms, "Just a way for him to weasel his way inside our group?"

"Toph said he wasn't lying!"

"Well, he burned Toph's feet, so clearly she doesn't have the best judgement!" Katara snarled, "He's the _enemy_ , Aang! He's the two-headed rat viper that the fisherman let inside his home! He'll poison us and kill you!"

"You know how I hate to interrupt your screaming matches, Katara," Sokka cut in, "But Zuko's not getting up."

Aang gasped and slid across the ice until he reached Zuko's crumpled form. Katara clenched her hands into fists and glared, wishing that she could shoot fire beams out of her eyes. Then Zuko would be nothing more than a smoldering pile of ash.

"Aren't you going to check on him?" Sokka asked neutrally. Katara spun around to see him standing at the edge of the ice. The bowl of fire flakes was forgotten behind him.

"Are you _seriously_ asking me to heal our enemy?" Katara gaped at her brother, "Have you lost your mind?"

"No, but I'm wondering if you lost yours," Sokka raised an eyebrow, "I'm asking you to check up on Aang's _firebending teacher_."

"Some firebending teacher," Katara narrowed her eyes, "Can't even firebend."

"I thought the whole point of this," Sokka waved a hand to the random puddles, broken icicles and slowly melting ice that covered the courtyard, "Was because you thought he was hiding his power."

Katara had thought he was hiding his power. She'd pushed and pushed to make him firebend, to make a liar out of him. But Zuko had looked at the wave with fear and resignation and allowed it to slam him against the pillar. Either he was a far more dedicated actor than she thought, or he wasn't lying when he said his firebending had become weaker.

"Katara," Aang called out, huddled over Zuko. The firebender was soaked and his dark hair sharply contrasted against his white skin. Had Zuko always been so deathly pale? "Katara, I think he's hurt!"

Katara stared at Zuko's unmoving body and stood frozen in place. Zuko was their enemy. He was Aang's firebending teacher. He'd switched sides. He'd betrayed her once already.

"Katara," Sokka said quietly, "Go heal him. And get over whatever grudge you have against Zuko. Sozin's Comet comes in less than a month and Aang's going to need all the firepower he can get."

It was easy for him to say. Sokka hadn't been the one tossed into the catacombs of Ba Sing Se, _he_ hadn't listened to Zuko talk about his mother, _he_ hadn't felt the gut-wrenching loss when Zuko sided with Azula over them. Over her.

Katara made an irritated flick with her hand and all the water in the courtyard trickled back into the fountain. She walked towards Aang and Zuko, drawing the last bits of remaining water to cloak her hands.

She didn't trust Zuko. Not after what he did back in Ba Sing Se. Katara bent over Zuko's pale, still body and felt for bumps on his head with her water-covered hands. When she found the gash, the water glowed blue and began healing it.

Katara remembered the look on Zuko's face when he talked about his family. Katara imagined having Azula for a sister. Katara imagined having the Fire Lord for a father.

Katara didn't trust Zuko, but perhaps she could try.

* * *

 **fin**

* * *

 **a/n:** Basically what would've happened if Zuko had lost his temper more explosively than he did in the episode and if Katara had taken it as hurting Aang. Also a reminder that I do take prompts.


	2. Chapter 2

**a/n:** Because **helloyesimhere** requested some father-son interaction between Hakoda and Zuko and I was too lazy to come up with a different AU.

 **dedication:** To my hurt/comfort muse, which I've forgotten the name of.

 **disclaimer:** I don't own A:tLA.

 **summary:** Hakoda had heard a lot about the infamous Fire Prince. For some reason, he hadn't expected the prince in question to be a lonely teenage boy.

* * *

 _ **fate's favorite**_

* * *

Hakoda had to smile at the scene that greeted him in the morning. He was with the Avatar and his group of teachers and at the time of Sokka's rescue, it had been easy to forget that they were all kids. But now, it was readily apparent, from the way that the little blind earthbender chased the other Earth Kingdom kids as Sokka excitedly explained something to Suki, flailing his hands around. Aang was practically hanging off of Chit Sang's arm as he overwhelmed the poor man with his chatter.

In severe contrast to the chaos, Katara serenely wove through the jumbled mess of people to serve everyone breakfast and Zuko sat on a stone block, sipping tea while he looked out into the chasm, his eyes a million miles away.

Hakoda had to admit that he had heard a lot about Zuko, none of it good. While he had been surprised enough by his son's daring breakout plan that he'd put aside the fact that Sokka was working with the Fire Prince, seeing him here amidst a group of people that he had chased all around the world was…jarring, to say the least.

"Dad," Katara smiled, drawing him away from his thoughts and handing him a plate of what looked like an unappetizing gray mush. She rolled her eyes at the expression on his face. "Don't worry, Zuko picked out the herbs this time. It's not poisoned."

Hakoda was pretty sure that there was now visible alarm on his face. He didn't want to compare either of his children to Kya, who had been a genius in the kitchen, but failing to recognize poisonous plants from edible ones was disturbing. He eyed his breakfast with considerable trepidation.

"At least we weren't with Uncle," Zuko responded, clearly not as lost in thought as he seemed to be, "He would've taste tested everything we came across." Something flitted across his face at that, and while Hakoda wasn't an expert at reading faces, it looked a lot like sadness.

It seemed like Zuko had made up for his crimes, if they were trusting him enough to let him near the cooking. No one looked like they were falling sick, so Hakoda took a cautious bite of the gruel and was pleasantly surprised. It was actually good.

"Hey, Katara, I'm done, going to explore the temple, see you for training later!" Aang said, all in one breath, abandoning his bowl and running for one of the corridors. Unfortunately, an earth wall rose up in his path and Katara used a water whip to tug him back, sending the Avatar tumbling to a stop at the smirking prince's feet.

"Hello, Aang," Zuko said, clearly hiding a smile behind his tea cup, "I admire your unbridled enthusiasm to master firebending. I think a hundred hot squats would be a great start to the morning." Aang groaned as Zuko dragged him off to the empty courtyard to begin training. Katara and Toph wore identical unsympathetic smiles.

Hakoda finished off his own breakfast and gestured to Sokka, who was laughing at the look on Aang's face, "I think they have the right idea. How about a spar, Sokka?"

* * *

His son had certainly gotten much better since the last time Hakoda had seen him. He felt a bit like a failure of a father – he hadn't taken Sokka ice dodging, or taught him to use the sword, or encouraged his skill of strategy. He'd seen Sokka three times in the past two years. The first time, he'd been too busy raiding Fire Nation ships to pay attention to his son. The second, he'd been too busy commanding a Fire Nation ship, and then caught up in Katara's anger. The third time, they had planned and executed an invasion.

While none of those times were appropriate for having a long conversation with his eldest child, Hakoda still felt like he missed out, especially when he'd seen his son concoct an elaborate escape plan to get him out of the Fire Nation's worst prison.

Sokka had grown into a fine warrior, and he'd done so without his father's help.

"Come on, old man!" Sokka cried out, reverting back to that strange Fire Nation stance that Hakoda never thought he'd see on his son, his sword at the ready, "Are you tired already?"

"Oh, Sokka," Hakoda grinned, gripping his spear tighter and slipping into a stance of his own, "You may have grown up, but your father still has a few tricks left."

They clashed blows a few times as Hakoda searched for his son's weakness. Inexperience would be his downfall, as it was with every young warrior puffed up with his own pride. Sokka was an intuitive learner and Hakoda had no doubt that he'd picked up the basics of swordsmanship after only a few days. This Master Piandao must've been a great teacher, to impart so much knowledge in so short a time. But swordsmanship wasn't just about controlling the body and letting creativity reign and Sokka hadn't mastered that sword.

Hakoda was used to fighting long range and soon enough, he found a weak spot. Slipping inside a sloppy parry, he grabbed Sokka's hand and twisted, forcing him to let go of the sword. Hooking his foot behind his son's, he brought Sokka down and jabbed down with the spear to keep him there.

Sokka grinned against the spear nudging at his throat, "Looks like I still have a long way to go to beat you, Dad." He accepted the hand that Hakoda held out and pulled himself back up.

Sokka went silent to search for his sword and that's when Hakoda heard it. A small, choked-off sound, almost like a whimper. Hakoda turned to see Zuko, half-hidden in a corner, staring at both of them with wide eyes.

"Hey, Zuko," Sokka found his sword and picked it back up, giving the firebender an easy smile, "Done training Aang? You can come spar with us – I know you can use those dao you cart around."

Momentarily surprised – the Fire Nation prince knew how to use swords? – Hakoda missed Zuko's response and only caught a split-second of Zuko's haunted look before he disappeared into a corridor.

"Man, I will never understand that guy," Sokka shook his head, "One minute he's yelling at Aang, the next he's as meek as a cricket mouse. I'm getting whiplash from his mood swings and I grew up with _Katara_."

Hakoda was still frowning at the spot where Zuko had disappeared, but he turned at the sound of his daughter's name. "Katara? What happened with Katara?"

"I don't know the full story, but she was all killer waterbender on him from the moment he got here, and then she started being nice after she gave him a concussion," Sokka shrugged, "Who can understand girls?" He paused and grinned, "Sure creeped Zuko out, though."

"She gave him a concussion?" Hakoda repeated in disbelief. Surely his little girl hadn't become so vicious. Not his precious daughter, who had been sweet and kind and a miniature version of Kya.

Come to think of it, Kya had been pretty vicious. He remembered the day that black snow fell from the sky and he'd ran into his house to find his wife dead, and two firebenders on the ground. Kya had been every inch a chief's wife.

"I think she was trying to kill him, actually," Sokka mused, and then blanched when he saw the look on his father's face, "Kidding! I was kidding! It was just a spar!"

"Sokka," Hakoda fought the urge to bury his head in his hands, "One day, after this war is over, we're going to sit down and have a long talk about everything you and your sister got up to in these past three years."

"Sure, Dad," Sokka smiled, bright and wide, and slowly edged out of the courtyard, "I think I'm going to find Suki now, bye!"

Hakoda watched in amusement as Sokka all but fled to the comforting arms of his girlfriend. Though if what he observed of the girl was true, her arms were less likely to be comforting and more likely to deliver a beat down. She was a fine woman for a future chief.

With a sigh, he turned back to the corridor that Zuko had bolted down. He had heard many things about the Fire Nation's Crown Prince and he had dismissed the more fanciful rumors as lies and misinformation spread by the Earth Kingdom to discourage deserters. After all, if the man did that to his own son, what would he do to his enemy?

He had dismissed it until he'd seen the look in Zuko's eyes when he held a spear to Sokka's neck.

If it was true, it explained why Zuko had been so willing to switch sides. It was easy to turn traitor to the man that had burnt off half your face, even – or perhaps especially – if he was your father.

Either way, it really wasn't Hakoda's business, but he saw the way that Zuko looked at him. Fire Prince or not, that young man was still the Avatar's firebending teacher and if Hakoda couldn't scrounge up a little compassion for the son of his biggest enemy, he could for the Avatar's sake.

* * *

He passed through three hallways before he heard the crackle of firebending. Hakoda cautiously poked his head out into a courtyard to see Zuko standing in the middle, his back to him. He was weaving through a strange set of katas as fire danced around his form.

Hakoda leaned against the wall and waited. He'd been taught to fear fire before he knew what the Fire Nation was, what they were doing, or what they'd already done. Seeing it used so casually, so _peacefully_ brought home the fact that they weren't declaring war on faceless soldiers, but on an entire culture of people whose only crime was following a madman.

Hakoda saw the exact moment that Zuko realized he was there – his fire faltered and he missed a step in his kata, losing his balance and almost falling into the fountain. "Chief Hakoda," Zuko bowed – too low for the son of a leader to another leader, if the Fire Lord taught him to bow at all – and straightened up, apprehensive, "Is there something you wanted?"

"You don't have to call me Chief," Hakoda replied calmly, "Just Hakoda is fine."

"Yes, sir," Zuko's face was blank, but his hands were trembling, as if he was trying to stop them clenching into fists.

Hakoda took a step forward and ignored the way Zuko's entire body tensed up. "I just wanted to get to know you a little better. I have to admit, I was pretty surprised when Sokka told me that he was working with the Fire Prince."

"I'm not a prince anymore," Zuko said, but relaxed marginally.

"Your father disowned you?" Hakoda raised his eyebrows. If that was true – and it didn't come as much of a surprise – then the crazy princess he'd heard about would be next in line. Now _that_ was a true nightmare.

"He didn't come out and say it," Zuko muttered, "But shooting lightning at me was pretty indicative of his opinion."

 _Lightning_? At his _son_? Hakoda opened his mouth, but no words came out. Zuko misinterpreted the look on his face and gave a wry smile, "You should've seen his face when I redirected it."

"You can redirect lightning?"

"Uncle taught me how to do it," Zuko's smile slipped off his face and Hakoda saw the same weary sadness he'd seen in the morning, "Saved my life." He muttered something else, but it was too low to hear.

"What happened to General Iroh?" Hakoda asked, because he'd heard a lot about the Dragon of the West. The great firebender prince who'd held Ba Sing Se under siege for six hundred days and abandoned a war he was winning because he lost his only son. From what Katara and Sokka had told him, he'd turned traitor to his own family to help the Avatar. Zuko clearly took after him.

"I made a horrible mistake," Zuko said softly, "Uncle Iroh was more of a father to me than Ozai ever was. And I betrayed him."

"I'm sure he'll forgive you," Hakoda said gently, because this was territory he was familiar with, "He must love you very much."

"What I did was unforgiveable," Zuko shook his head, "He'll never talk to me again, I know. He cared for me for three years when my own father wouldn't give a damn and I cast him aside the minute I got a taste of power." He muttered something else, but the only words Hakoda could make out was _'horrible nephew'_ and _'hates me'_.

"There are people that would say that trying to capture the Avatar was unforgiveable," Hakoda said quietly, "And here you are now."

"That's because Aang is…" Zuko searched for the right word, "Aang. I mean, he's just a kid. And he's a monk – his teachers taught him to forgive everyone."

"And your uncle is your uncle." A new voice joined their conversation and Hakoda turned to see the blind earthbender. She had her hands on her hips and was glowering in Zuko's general direction. "Don't give me that wishy washy complaining attitude, Zuko. He told me once that all he wanted is for you to find your way. He would be proud if he could see you now."

"He isn't here," Zuko scowled, "And I don't know _where_ he is." He paused and scowled at Toph, "When did you talk to my uncle?"

"Long story short, I got sick of Katara, stomped off and met this weird old man that poured my tea and was insufferably polite even though I was pretty rude. It was a long time ago," Toph waved off Zuko's objections, "But the point is, he really loved you, I could tell. The way he talked about his nephew…well, I've never heard something so sickeningly sweet. Uncle will forgive you, trust me."

"You don't know that," Zuko protested, but it sounded half-hearted at best. He looked much more hopeful now.

"I do," Toph said sternly, "And no one is going to argue with the greatest earthbender in the world! Also, Aang did twenty-six fire fists before he got bored and started gliding around, so you might want to get back to training."

Zuko groaned and stalked out of the courtyard, muttering something about idiot airbenders and short attention spans. Toph, however, stayed, turning her eerie sightless gaze on Hakoda. "You're pretty alright," she said finally, turning away, "Even if you are Katara's dad."

Why did everyone bring up Katara like it was a bad thing?

* * *

 **fin (for good this time I promise)**

* * *

 **a/n:** So, fatherly!Hakoda. Also, Toph being slightly reassuring, in her own way. And I got a kick out of Hakoda's confusion as to why everyone is so wary of Katara.


End file.
